Keep drugs on agenda: Pert

COLLINGWOOD chief executive Gary Pert says the illicit drugs debate must become an annual agenda item as football bosses prepare to deal with what shapes as one of the biggest issues facing the sport.

The AFL has yet to confirm the agenda and guest speakers for the summit featuring all club chief executives on January 30.

The Australian Drug Foundation is expected to be represented, while Geelong chief executive Brian Cook and West Coast counterpart Trevor Nisbett are also likely to speak.

AFL medical directors and AFL Players Association chief executive Matt Finnis will also provide their takes on a matter Finnis feels has been overblown.

Pert prompted the conference when he raised the contentious issue at the CEO's meeting on the Gold Coast on the eve of the national draft, and later said some players were guilty of ''volcanic behaviour'' during their off-season break.

''It didn't make sense to me to have such a serious issue and it was just never, ever talked about,'' Pert said on Tuesday. ''As a group we can share ideas, debate it, talk about it, I am not going to pretend I have all the ideas.

''I don't see this first meeting as being a big deal. I am trying to push that this should be an agenda item forever now and at all CEO meetings we should be talking about this.''

Pert has implored club bosses to put aside their usual political allegiances and deal with a topic that is regularly the subject of speculation in the industry.

''It is why I brought it up in the first place. I want the whole industry to be dealing with this as one unit,'' he said.

Pert took umbrage with Finnis in December when the players' boss wrote in a column that ''unfortunately, it seems there will always be people who want to spread misinformation about the issue and muddy the waters with sensationalised claims''.

Pert, in an email sent to CEOs and AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou, described the comments as ''inaccurate, ignorant and inflammatory''.

He said on Tuesday: ''Again, one of the things I had issues with is why do you organise a forum where we are going to get together and talk about things and Matt comes out and starts stating his case and implying that they have got the truth and nobody else does.

''Again, it's just a stupid thing to do, as I said - grandstanding.''

Players have said they are happy with the three-strikes model but remain open to change. Only six players failed illicit drugs tests in 2011.

Cook, one of the most respected figures in football, told Fairfax Media in December that it could be time for club officials to be told earlier of a positive test by a player.

As it stands, only the club doctor is informed of a positive test on the first and second strikes, with management informed only if there has been a third strike.

Players circumventing the rules by self-reporting drug use has been a concerning development for club bosses. These players avoid a positive test and aren't given a strike.